Door-latch.



F. E. RICHARDSON.

DOOR LATCH.

APPLICATION FILED ue.13, 1914.

1,139,31 1 Patented May 11, 1915.

5 c0. PHOTO-LITHQ, WASHINGTON. D. c

FREDERICK ELIJAH RICHARDSON, OF'MANCHESTER, IOWA.

DOOR-LATCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 11, 1915.

Application filed August 13, 1914. Serial No. 856,582.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, FREDERICK E. RIGH- ARDSON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Manchester, in the county of Delaware andState of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inDoor-Latches, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to means for holding doors in closed position,particularly sliding doors such as are used on barns and the like, andis an improvement over the form shown and described in my Letters Patentof the United States bearing date of March 6, 1900, No. 644,946 which isintended only for hinged doors.

My invention is fully described in the following specification, of whichthe accompanying drawing forms a part, said draw- 1ng being a horizontalsection taken through a door and frame and with which my invention isconnected, said door being indicated by the reference character 1 andthe door frame by the character 2.

Secured to the door is a plate 3 having outwardly directed arms 4carrying a pivot pin 5 for a latch 6 having two arms 7 and 8 arranged ata substantially right angle to each other; the arm 7 is provided with ahooked end 9 normally forced against the plate 3 by means of a spring 10coiled on the pin 5, and the arm 8 is also provided with a hooked end11, if desired, the latter arm being passed through and movable in aslot in the door.

Secured to the door frame is a yokeshaped keeper 12, by screws 13 or thelike,- and which keeper projects beyond the edge of the frame and overthe plate 3 when the door is in closed position, and is adapted to raisethe hooked end 9 and pass thereunder, whereby it may be engaged by saidend to prevent accidental withdrawal; however, if the handle end 11 bemoved to revolve the latch on its pivot, said end 9 may be raised toallow the door to be slid open, the spring 10 returning the latch tonormal position when the manual pressure thereon is released.

I may also, as shown, employ a wire yoke 14 to pass between the arms 4and the latch arm 8 to prevent the movement of the latch on its pivot,said yoke having a ring 15 at the outer end thereof through which thebow 16 of a pad-lock 17 may be passed to lock said yoke to the arm 7,and thus lock the door against unauthorized opening.

It will thus be seen that I provide a very simple though efficient latchfor sliding doors, and which may be used as a look for the door inconjunction with the yoke 14 and pad-lock 17, and which latch may beoperated from the outside or from the inside of the door in its normaluse.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

A sliding door latch, comprising a plate secured to a door, a leverpivoted thereon and provided with two arms substantially perpendicularto each other, one of which projects through said door and the other ofwhich is hooked at its end, a spring for maintaining said hooked endagainst said plate, and a stationary keeper on the door frame adapted tobe engaged by said hooked end to hold said door in closed position.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

FREDERICK ELIJAH RICHARDSON. Witnesses:

J. ,M. COOLIDGE, EDITH PEMBLE.

Copies of this trade-mark may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

